The Doting Child | Thoughts on life

Time 2021-04-28 22:10:32

Web Name: The Doting Child | Thoughts on life

WebSite: http://thedotingchild.com

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Do you know who said the following?“However brief our time in the sun, if we waste a second of it, or complain that it is dull or barren or (like a child) boring, couldn t this be seen as a callous insult to those unborn trillions who will never even be offered life in the first place?”It’s a beautiful quote, really.Life is precious and amazing. You and I get the privilege to LIVE it.Out of millions of sperm, the right one at the right time wiggled into that egg in your mother’s womb under perfect conditions to make YOU unless, of course, you were a “test-tube” baby (but that doesn’t make your creation any less amazing and unique).God gave you and me an opportunity. He gave us the gift of life. Not only that, the realization of having been entrusted with that privilege inspires within me a feeling of responsibility. I feel a call to help others who may be hurting and struggling in this life. In short, a responsibility to make the world a better place.I glean wisdom and edification from the quote above.So who said it?Richard Dawkins.Dawkins is a well known author of several books including The God Delusion and The Blind Watchmaker. He is arguably the most well-known atheist in the world.Interestingly, he grew up embracing Christianity until his teens, but came to believe that the theory of evolution explained life’s complexity much better than intelligent design and, in his words, this left him with “nothing”.He also came up with such gems as this: The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sado-masochistic, capriciously malevolent bully. So why share some “wicked” atheist’s quote in the first place?I pose this question mainly for my theist friends (i.e. those who believe in a supreme being, but especially my Christian and Jewish friends).Did your opinion of it change when you learned who the author was?Does knowing who said it suddenly make it a bad quote, or untrue?Was there something flawed about it to begin with?Richard Dawkins and I are worlds apart. Locked in a room together and forced to have a conversation, we would likely be very irritated with each other. However, does that mean I can’t appreciate something he said and learn from it? Perhaps not unlike the apostle Paul, who engaged the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers of his day to connect with the culture.If I find something deep and meaningful (and even spiritual) in something said by a person who earns a living by making a mockery of God, does it mean I am endorsing their worldview?It reminds me of an observation by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman:“It’s a paradox: The greatest revelations are to be found not in meditation, study and prayer, but in the mundane world but only if you would rather be meditating, studying, and praying.”What would you rather be doing? I seriously have to get this kicked off.I’ve really missed keeping an online journal, but haven’t had significant motivation to start back again. Now that I’m faced with a round-trip ticket to Afghanistan next year, I have new motivation to chronicle events in my life.Some of you remember the “Xanga” craze from years ago, before Myspace started pulling users away. Technically, I still have mine, though it’s all but abandoned. In their process of keeping up with the Joneses, the interface became clunkier and blogging seemed to take second stage.I may pull a few of those entries and “park” them here (and then kill the site). Every now and then, when blessed by the aroma of a deceased skunk on the highway, I get the craving for a nice cup of java.I like the smell of skunk. I like the smell of strong gourmet coffee. There is a correlation between the two, but before I get too carried away Reflecting on my skunk/java olfactory-association of recent years, I am transported by my truck s air vents to fond childhood memories. My appreciation of smells that most people find repugnant can be traced back to the Little Rock Zoo. As a five-year old, my second most-anticipated exhibit was the elephants (the first was the snake house). It s not that pachyderms were overly fascinating creatures, they just smelled so darn good.Approaching my teen years, I wondered why elephants and skunks pleased my senses. I was already a bit of a social outcast, so I shared my peculiar perfume preferences with only my most-trusted friends. I don t mean to imply that this was some bizarre fetish that preoccupied my life it wasn t (and it isn t).In college, I discarded the pecking-order mentality that seemed to follow many into their post high school years. I became less inhibited about being unapologetically me . Admittedly, that has nothing to do with parfum de mouffette , but it s shamefully fun to reminisce. The point I m getting at is that I don t care what people think. I m coming out of the odiferous closet.On a related note, here s a fascinating read on the psychology of scent perception:Back to the highway.The other day, Tanya and I were driving along and we were suddenly hit with the most exquisite smell. To me, likened to a most lovingly-brewed Indonesian Sumatra. To Tanya, absolute putrification. I told her that our little striped friend reminded me of coffee. This was the first such confession in our ten-years of marriage (she knew I liked skunks, but the coffee revelation was fairly new even to me).In short, she thought I was nuts.This threat to my firmly-established sanity prompted me to seek vindication. I set out to find clarity on my skunk and coffee quandary and was pleasantly rewarded.It seems as though I m not insane. Have you ever heard of the compound thiol ? I hadn t either.Chemicals in the Thiol family are fairly pleasant to most people in small doses. Coffee and garlic both contain variants of thiols. More concentrated thiols of slightly different composition are found in skunk oil and rotten eggs.It s not outlandish to think that someone who is both pleased with the smell of skunk and is a lover of good coffee can recognize the parallel undertones of each (and appreciate them both).I can only hope my children follow in my footsteps.This journal also made the skunk-coffee connection:For further details on the science of stench, with additional links, click here. David Charles Summers, 33, of Little Rock, passed away Friday, July 21, 2006. David was known for his wonderful sense of humor, his smile and his big brown eyes. David was a genuine person, loyal friend, very kind hearted and a peacemaker. He graduated Parkview High School in 1991. After graduating David began acting for the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock. He and his close friend Richard wrote and directed seven original play writes. He was employed with Powers of Arkansas for the past 10 years, member of the A.B.A.T.E. of Arkansas and a member of Calvary Chapel of Saline County.David is preceded in death by his father, Dr. Charles E. Summers, grandparents, Marion and Wilma Duff and mother in law, Peggy Stone. He is survived by his loving wife, Rhonda Summers, mother, Pat Summers, brother, Bud Summers, sister, Dawn Summers and her husband, Mark, nieces and nephews, Grayson, Bradley, Christyl, Christopher, Amber, Jamie and Kevin and many other relatives and friends that loved him.A celebration of David’s life will be held on Wednesday, July 26,2006 at 2:00 p.m. in the chapel of Griffin Leggett Forest Hills It was quite a celebration! There were bagpipes, a live acoustic rendition of Forever by the punk group Dropkick Murphys, lots of Hawaiian shirts (including David s), and a fair share of laughter and tears. Even though I know David is in Heaven, it was quite an emotional day today. He s having a blast right now, but it sure is hard for those he left behind. Especially his wife. I did NOT get the job.So it look s as though God s plan is cruising along just fine!My human side wants to go on about some of the politics involved in the selection process.  According to the paperwork,  I was the only one actually qualified for the job as it was advertised. A key hiring official told me they were surprised with what the Administrative Officer ultimately decided.  Out of the seven applicants, he thought I had it nailed.But let s stop and think. If that really is the case, then God must have better things in mind for me.  I really do belive that.  As a matter of fact, I see this opening up other opportunities in the future.In addition to that, what about the guy who DID get the job?  He s a family-man like myself.  I really like him and I think that he ll do great.  I called to congratulate him and told him that if he had any questions, I d help him in any way that I could.  It s so awesome (and  liberating) to be able to rejoice with someone even though they beat me out of a job. God is obviously taking care of both of us. Isn t that great?Remember, just because things don t go like we were expecting (or hoping), it doesn t mean that they weren t supposed to go that way.Our contentment -and our JOY, for that matter, should not depend on whether or not things go our way.  Often, in hindsight, we ll find that things happened exactly like they should have. Or “Tile Unhappy With Apple for Entering Their Previously Dominated Market”. Emphasis on “previously”.I was never… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 1weekago Privacy Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use. To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

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